# Confused about seasoning humidor!!!



## Elonheater (Nov 6, 2014)

YES.... YES.... YES... I know there is a thread about how Herf N Turf seasoned his humidor and yes it's a great thread which was immensely informative! With that being said, I got the Boveda seasoning pack before I read that thread. 

I read that he placed the hygrometer in there several times and took out the humidifying medium which in his case was the sponge on the dish once the rh got above 70 in order to prevent over humidifying the humidor. This is where my confusion kicks in....

On Thursday night I threw in my Boveda seasoning packs (4 of them since mine is a 120 count humidor). I had been keeping my hygrometer in my tuperware containers to make sure that the 65 Boveda packs was doing it's job. Yesterday, I decided to put the hygrometer in the humidor so I could see what rh it was while the seasoning process took place. I checked out the hygrometer this morning and it read 73% and yes my hygrometer was calibrated using the Boveda kit. 

I have been told to keep the Boveda seasoning packs in there for at LEAST 7 days and some people do it for 14 days. The Boveda packs says 84 and I am worried that if I keep it in there for another week that it will overhumidfy or over saturate the cedar in the humidifier. Is my logic flawed?

The reason that I am concerned is because (unless I read incorrectly) after only 3 days Herf decided to open the humidor and remove the medium that was providing the moisture as it had already gotten to his desired rh. My humidor is already 73rh and I am supposed to keep it in there for a week longer.... I am sure that the rh will continue to climb as the packs are designed to establish a 84 rh. 

What gives? Should I keep it in or do you think that seasoning is established at this point? I do not want to risk over-seasoning my humidor and it make my sticks wetter than needed once I put my sticks back in as my sticks are already well above my desired 65 rh.

Any help would be greatly appreciated especially from Herf! 

Thanks again


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## Emperor Zurg (May 6, 2013)

If you want to know, take all the packs out and put the hygro in your humidor, close it up and let it stabilize for a couple days before taking a reading. If it drops right back down you'll know the wood was still absorbing moisture. If it holds or only drops a couple of points I'd say you're good to go. Don't forget, there's a possibility your new humidor wasn't entirely dry when you started the seasoning process. Could have been good to go right from the start. You won't know that unless you took a reading before you started the whole process.


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## tmoran (Mar 25, 2014)

The amount of moisture in the wood before you started would vary the amount of time needed to season. You're hygrometer is only reading the humidity of the air in the humidor, not the wood. If you are worried about it, remove the Boveda for 24 hours and take an RH reading. If the RH stays steady without the Boveda, you are good. If there is a big drop, keep the Boveda in longer.

ETA: Errr, I mean what Zurg said.


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## Elonheater (Nov 6, 2014)

Perfect, I will take the packs out tonight when I get home from the office and check it 24 hours later. Lets say it is 73rh before I take it out tonight.... if it drops to 70 in 24 hours... is that acceptable or is that indication that I should season some more?


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## tmoran (Mar 25, 2014)

You will probably see a quick drop after removing the Boveda, and then it should level out. The RH that it stabilizes at give you an idea of the moisture content in the humidor. I think after 24 hours it should probably be stabilized. If you are shooting for 70% (many, myself included would recommend lower), than if it reads 70% after 24 hours you should be set. If you want, let it sit for another 24 hours like Zurg recommended to be sure.


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## MadMatt (Jan 20, 2013)

There are variances in each packet around -2 to 5%. The Boveda seasoning pack you are using will not humidify past 84% it may go to around 80%. After seasoning remove the seasoning pack and insert a humidity pack with your favorite rating, let's say 69%. If your humidor was seasoned to 84%, the humidity packet will bring the internal humidity level down and control it at 69%


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## Elonheater (Nov 6, 2014)

I have the 65rh packs that I am going to put in once seasoned.


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## MadMatt (Jan 20, 2013)

Okay, well to be specific, if you remove your seasoning kit tonight and you find tomorrow morning that the internal RH is 80%, don't worry, the 65% packet you have will lower and then control the internal ambient at 65%. The seasoning kit is designed to go over slightly, it won't ruin the humidor.


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## Herf N Turf (Dec 31, 2008)

As much as I like Boveda and as many times as I've had it explained to me, I still do not understand their logic behind seasoning for 3 centuries at such high humidity.

A little insight. When you take a hygro reading, all you're able to read is the AIR inside, not the wood, or anything else. Since the wood is actually your media and not the so called media; boveda, beads, whatever, that needs time to achieve the necessary moisture content to consistently provide stability. All the other media are there to do is to feed the air, which feeds the wood, which in turn feeds the cigars. It takes some time, months in fact, for the wood to become completely, uniformedly humidified. That doesn't mean it can't act like a humidor during that time, it will. It will just require more fidgeting and fussing until it settles down.

Take everything but the hygro out for six hours. If you get an acceptable storage reading, begin storing cigars in and just monitor it daily, no more.


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## Elonheater (Nov 6, 2014)

@Herf N Turf.... I knew you would chime in. Thanks for your input. Going to take the Boveda out and see what kind of reading that I get. I will open it up and fan it a bit to get the residual humidity out so the hygrometer reading will be more accurate.


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## Herf N Turf (Dec 31, 2008)

Fanning won't do anything beneficial. Why blow moisture out that could otherwise absorb into your wood during the test?


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## MadMatt (Jan 20, 2013)

You really just need to be patient with the process.


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## Elonheater (Nov 6, 2014)

I wanted my hygrometer to detect exactly what my humidor was putting out and not the rh of the ambient air.


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## MadMatt (Jan 20, 2013)

You're going to need different equipment for that.


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